Woman gagged, bound and raped at Loughborough University

A terrified student was tied up, gagged and blindfolded before being raped in her hall of residence bedroom.

The sleeping 20-year-old was woken up by a gloved hand reaching across her mouth, in darkness, at 5am.

Hyung Woo Pyo, a South Korean student at Loughborough University – where the girl also studied – was yesterday jailed for eight years after admitting the prolonged and ruthless attack.

Pyo took photos of her during the ordeal, threatening to put them on the internet if she told the police.

During the attack, he gripped her neck so hard she feared she would be killed, said Andrew Easteal, prosecuting, at Leicester Crown Court.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Hammond said: "She felt a gloved hand on her mouth and he told her to shut up.

"He put a light on and produced a roll of duct tape and bound her wrists, gagged her mouth and blindfolded her with it, so she couldn't see or shout for help.

"She begged him to stop and struggled but he grabbed her throat and held her down, saying if she didn't want to die she'd better be quiet.

"He held her throat, restricting her breathing and she thought she was going to die."

Pyo left the victim bound with duct tape and made off with her laptop, camera, purse and bank card, demanding the PIN number.

When he left she was able to free herself and a fellow student summoned help.

As Pyo has hepatitis B, she is undergoing regular tests.

Pyo, a third-year civil engineering student, was arrested two days later because he was on the police DNA database, having previously been questioned on suspicion of burglary.

The 22-year-old, who lived with his girlfriend in Leopold Street, in the town, pleaded guilty to raping and robbing the young woman, in the attack on May 18.

He admitted possessing a knife, found in his car on arrest, although it was not used in the attack.

Philip King QC, mitigating, said Pyo's relatives had come to the UK for the court case.

He said: "His family's shame will be a life-long reproach."

He said Pyo had cracked under the pressure of his family's expectations.

After visiting the library he went outside for some fresh air. He said that was when he noticed the key in the lock to his victim's room.

Mr King said it was not a pre-planned rape and no physical injuries were caused – the actual rape, he said, lasted a minute.

Judge Hammond said he expected Pyo to be deported at the end of his sentence.

After the case, Detective Inspector Chris Barratt, from the force's specialist rape investigation team, said: "It doesn't take a big stretch of the imagination to imagine how terrifying this must have been for her. She's been very brave and very strong."